French Piracy Bill Passes National Assembly

The French piracy legislation, which was previously rejected has now been passed by the National Assembly and will go on to the Senate for final approval. The bill sets out measures aimed at cracking down on internet piracy, with repeat offenders facing being cut off from their service for a year under a "three strikes" system. On passing the bill, the French government will be setting a global precedent, and developments will be watched closely by other governments, who may consider similar methods of deterring piracy. The legislation is backed by the film and recording industries, with chairman of the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), John Kennedy describing the move as "an effective and proportionate way of tackling online copyright infringement and migrating users to the wide variety of legal music services in France". Some consumer groups have expressed concerns that the legislation could lead to innocent people being punished.